Poaching activities bring serious trouble for govt

Forest department is facing tough challenge of preventing poaching activities in Khanapur jungle, which is recognized as a major habitat for elephants. Taking advantage of poor vigilance of the forest department, breaking of law is unabated in this jungle by locals and poachers from outside.The arrest of 20 professional poachers from Maharashtra recently, provided the proof of ongoing unabated poaching activities in Khanapur jungle once again. Poachers had entered jungle along with tempo, in which they had dongs trained for poaching and sharp weapons to kill and cut the wild animals.

However, following the tip-off, local forest officials succeeded in nabbing them at Parwada-Gouliwada jungle near Kanakumbi by launching a well planned attack. According to department sources, knowledge about jungle and preparation of the poachers, they might have conducted their activities in past too.Speaking to the TOI, a senior officer of the department said poaching activities of such a magnitude were not possible without help from the insiders in department or local villagers. Recently, officials had caught a cook in one of the forest department resorts in Khanapur jungle, who used to poach wild animals and served their meat at high rates to the guests.

He was suspended after being caught."After arrest of 20 poachers recently, we have been increased security at check posts, from where one can take entry into jungle. The check posts at Hemmadaga, Jamboti, Krishnapur, Londa and Dorla are kept alert round the clock in order to keep eye on law breakers", Ambadi Madhav, deputy conservator of forests said.

An edited version of this article can be read from the link below:

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-11-07/hubli/34972236_1_jungle-poachers-forest-department

Bhimgad will get range forest office

The forest department plans to open a range forest office to conserve Bhimgad reserve forest in Khanapur taluk of the district, which was declared a wildlife sanctuary' last year by the ministry of environment and forests.

Bhimgad forest is spread on 19,042.50 hectares in the core zone of Western Ghats. The area is free from biotic disturbances and forestry operations. However, poaching and smuggling continues in this area.

This forest is home to tigers, leopards, Indian gaur (bison), sloth bear, sambar, barking deer, cheetah, wild dogs, king cobra and variety of other mammals and reptiles.

Poachers and smugglers enter the forest easily from Krishnapur village area on the Goa route. In order to control this, the department plans to open the range office here.

Speaking to STOI, Ambadi Madhav, district conservator of forests, said the proposal has been sent to the forest department in the state and the Centre. A K Varma, state principal chief conservator of forest, who visited Belgaum a few months ago promised to sanction a range office for Bhimgad sanctuary at the earliest, by availing approval from the Centre. Varma was in Belgaum as DCF from 1984-87. "There are also plans to create awareness on the importance of Bhimgad wildlife sanctuary to villagers, who often collude with poachers and get involved in smuggling for a petty amount, without knowing the value of the animals and plants", the DCF said.

With the range office in the area, there would be more guards to man the forest.

An edited version of this article can be read from the link below:

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-12-23/hubli/35981930_1_bhimgad-forest-district-conservator

Volunteers Needed

Dear All,

If anybody is interested to work as volunteers in wildlife conservation please contact me on girirk19@gmail.com.

Leopard Dies at Castlerock

This Leopard died of injuries after it was attacked by a Porcupine in Castle rock forest which were recently added to Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary.There can be two reasons for this death, first being is it may have fought  with the porcupine or else it may have tried to feed on it.The first possibility is very rare where as the latter one may be true which is truly indicating that prey base is decreasing in these forests which intern forcing the predators to feed on such species which can prove extremely dangerous for their life.

Indian park guards protecting wildlife awarded their own protection

A major victory for wildlife protection forces was made last week with the launch of a new government-operated insurance program to cover all forest guards employed in the Indian state of Karnataka, which holds the largest number of wild tigers in India, and serves as a stronghold for this highly endangered species.

Around the world, park guards are the keepers of the forests, protectors of wildlife, and serve as the front line of defence against poachers. Tigers, elephants, rhinos and other wildlife are being heavily targeted by poachers for the illegal wildlife market – which is a booming 19 billion dollar a year insidious industry. Poachers are highly organized and heavily out-fitted, more so than the park guards, who are often poorly paid, ill-equipped, and yet risk their lives to protect the world's wildlife.

Recognizing the critical role government forest staff play in conserving tigers and other species, Sanjay Gubbi, the Tiger Program Coordinator for the big cat conservation group Panthera, spearheaded this program (the first of its kind to be offered even to temporary staff) to provide the much-needed insurance protection for nearly 2,500 wildlife park guards, anti-poaching patrol members, and other frontline enforcement staff working in extremely high-risk conditions throughout Karnataka's five tiger reserves and 38 protected areas.

"Karnataka's forest staff are on the front lines defending tigers and other wildlife from poaching, habitat loss, and overhunting of their prey. Their presence on the ground, patrolling these areas and mitigating key threats, is essential in protecting wildlife, and yet they often risk their lives doing so" Gubbi stated. "The adoption of this new insurance policy demonstrates the value that the Karnataka State Government places on the well-being of its forest staff and their commitment to wildlife conservation, and this program serves as a model for other states and countries around the globe."

The new policy was presented by Gubbi, who worked with the State Government for several months to implement this insurance scheme, and it was formally approved during the Karnataka State Wildlife Board Meeting on Saturday, December 15th. The meeting was overseen by Chief Minister, Jagadish Shettar, and attended by instrumental supporters of the initiative, including Karnataka's Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Dipak Sarmah, Forest Minister C. P. Yogeshwar, and former Indian cricket team captain, Anil Kumble.

Insurance is a critical security component and incentive for wildlife enforcement staff, and up until now there has been a significant dearth of such state-funded protection for fulltime and temporary workers. Without insurance initiatives, forest staff face illness, and a range of injuries from their jobs, some as serious as losing limbs, and even losing their lives. Worse yet, the families of guards who have perished, up until now, have been left without any form of government-funded social security.

Panthera's CEO, Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, stated, "Today, the Indian subcontinent is home to the world's highest densities of tigers. If we are to see the species rebound from its current state of fewer than 3,200 individuals, the philosophy is simple: properly protect and equip the foot soldiers fighting to conserve the last viable tiger populations." He continued, "We applaud Karnataka's government for bolstering its wildlife protection forces and establishing a sound insurance model to be replicated across the tiger's range."

Above all, highly organized and well-armed gangs of poachers targeting and trafficking animals for their meat, skins and body parts serve as the number one threat to tigers, their prey and to the wildlife enforcement patrols themselves. Serving as a biodiversity hotspot, the threat of poaching is particularly real within Karnataka State. Nestled in southwest India's Western Ghats region, Karnataka is home to one of the world's largest remaining wild tiger populations and substantial populations of the leopard, Asian elephant, and other endangered species. Today, Karnataka's estimated population of 300 wild tigers primarily live within the region's five tiger reserves, including the Bandipur, Dandeli-Anshi, Biligirirangaswamy Temple, Bhadra, and Nagarahole Reserves.

Expected to be fully established within these reserves in the coming year, the State's insurance policy is currently being implemented on a pilot basis within Bandipur Tiger Reserve, where Panthera's Gubbi has played a pivotal role in convincing the reserve Director, Kumar Pushkar, to provide insurance for the 471 wildlife enforcement staff. Pushkar, a dynamic officer, took up the suggestion immediately and implemented the policy. In collaboration with the Nature Conservation Foundation, Gubbi and other field scientists are implementing Panthera's Tigers Forever program to reduce habitat fragmentation of India's tiger reserves, connect Karnataka's remaining tiger populations to ensure the species' genetic diversity, mitigate threats facing tigers and implement public awareness campaigns to galvanize local support for the future of this iconic species.

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About Panthera

Panthera, founded in 2006, is devoted exclusively to the conservation of wild cats and their ecosystems. Utilizing the expertise of the world's premier cat biologists, Panthera develops and implements global conservation strategies for the largest, most imperilled cats – tigers, lions, jaguars, and snow leopards. Representing the most comprehensive effort of its kind, Panthera works in partnership with local and international NGOs, scientific institutions, local communities and governments around the globe. Visit: www.panthera.org

About Tigers Forever

Launched in 2006 after decades of continuing tiger declines, Tigers Forever is changing the face of tiger conservation. Tigers Forever makes a unique commitment to increase tiger numbers at key sites by at least 50% over a 10-year period by relentlessly attacking the most critical threats to tigers – poaching of tigers and their prey. Utilizing rigorous science to maintain constant vigilance on conservation efforts and on the tiger itself, this transformative program is the only one of its kind to guarantee success – the recovery of the wild tiger. Visit Tigers Forever.

An edited version of this article can be read from the link below:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-12/p-ipg122112.php 

If animals could speak, perhaps they would gripe

India has some of the toughest and promising wildlife laws in the world that have been the cornerstone of species and habitat preservation. There are historical evidences of wildlife conservation in the country. However, several of independent India’s pioneering and new generation wildlife Acts and policies were enacted under the patronage of Indira Gandhi during the formative years (‘70s and ‘80s) of modern wildlife preservation. Significant among them was The Wildlife Protection Act that primarily provided protection against hunting, which was the biggest cause of concern at that time. Even our national animal, the tiger, could be hunted and ‘shikar safaris’ were a main attraction for Europeans to visit India. There were even rewards for ‘eradication’ of tiger, wild dog, Himalayan black bear, jackal and others.

Though direct killing of wildlife was largely for venison and trophies, the reasons for unnatural deaths of wild species have changed over time. However, hunting remains one of the primary causes of mortalities. Several other reasons have emerged as the market and economy progressed, threatening wildlife survival. One could categorise causes of mortality into two broad themes; direct and indirect. The fatality due to unnatural reasons varies from region to region, and at times even temporally.

Anatomy of unnatural deaths
Hunting, casualties due to speeding vehicles or trains, and retaliatory killing by people are perhaps the three main causes of direct mortality. Hunting is a nationwide phenomenon. Wildlife Protection Society of India, an organisation that works on wildlife trade related issues, documents 318 seizures and poaching incidents of leopards during the past two years, depicting the scale of poaching for trade. The country has only about 1200 tuskers of breeding age as per the 2010 report of the Elephant Task Force (ETF), again illustrating the severity of commercial poaching.

There are high numbers of elephant deaths due to trains in Assam, West Bengal and Uttarakhand. While speeding vehicles kill innumerable mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians on most highways that pass through protected areas, Dandeli in Karnataka and Wayanad in Kerala are classic examples.

In Kaziranga National Park, Assam several animals are killed by vehicles during monsoons when the Brahmaputra floods force animals to higher elevations. During their pursuit of crossing NH-37, high mortalities of wildlife occur. Linked to this is the spurt in rhino poaching when they move out of the safe zones of the national park during the monsoons. Both these examples depict temporal peaks in unnatural deaths.

Another cause of grave concern is the retaliatory killing due to conflict with farmers and livestock owners. In India annually about 100 elephants are exterminated in retaliatory actions by people as per the ETF report. Tens of leopards meet catastrophic fate due to conflict. However, the impact caused by conflict on livelihoods is bound to bring in animosity of affected people.

While the causes of direct mortality may be small, the roots of indirect threats are numerous and vary in nature. The key ecological reasons of this cause include total loss of habitat (due to agriculture, river valley projects, highways, mining), degradation of habitats (due to forest fires, extraction of forest products, pollution), introduction of invasive species and diseases. The relationship between mortalities due to indirect threats is fairly complex. Andaman crake, a bird from the Andaman Islands, is threatened by introduced predators such as rats, and sea turtle eggs and hatchlings are devoured by feral dogs.

The public response
The way public responds to unnatural deaths of wildlife greatly vary. Images of an elephant family killed in a rail accident in Jalpaiguri district in September 2010 raised public outcry. I and a senior forest official were able to convince the court to close vehicular traffic at night on the highways passing through Bandipur due to some impactful images of wildlife killed in road accidents.

Unnatural deaths due to poaching or vehicle mortalities brings in public sympathy and support in some instances. However, disappearance of species due to indirect perils is largely unnoticed and building sustained backing against this is not easy. The pressure of demographic and economic expansion is severe than ever before.

Despite strong policies, lack of implementation due to interventions, both political and economic, has been a serious limitation in wildlife conservation.  Nevertheless, several conservation victories in the country have brought in optimism. There is neither one size fits all nor a magic wand to save species. With committed political leadership, dynamic bureaucracy, importantly civil society organisations and individuals, who care and work rationally with Governments and social leaders, the unnatural deaths and disappearance of wildlife can be reduced to tolerable limits.

(The writer is a wildlife biologist working in the Western Ghats.)

An edited version of this article can be read from the link below:

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/300292/if-animals-could-speak-perhaps.html